Strong Start Not Enough, Horned Frogs Topple Jayhawks, 5-2
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FORT WORTH, Texas – After claiming the top two courts in the doubles competition, No. 65 Kansas women’s tennis lost its grip as No. 54 TCU turned the tables to snag five of the six singles courts and post a 5-2 come-from-behind victory Sunday morning in the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center.
“I was very proud of our effort today,” said first-year head coach Todd Chapman. “I thought we competed at a different level today as a team from Friday. We put ourselves in a lot of positive situations today. We just had a hard time closing things out. In doubles we played a lot tougher than we have in the past few matches.”
Kansas’ only victory in the singles competition came from sophomore Anastasija Trubica who posted her first shut-out win of the season over TCU’s Kit Snyder on court six (6-0, 6-0).
In their second all-time series meeting, TCU (12-11, 4-4 Big 12) pushes its lead over Kansas (11-10, 2-6 Big 12) to 2-0.
Seniors Paulina Los and Dylan Windom claimed their second win of the weekend over Stefanie Tan and Seda Arantekin, 8-4, on court one to kick off the doubles competition. TCU notched the next victory in doubles as Mille Nichols and Monika Sirilova defeated freshmen Caroline Henderson and Morgan Barnhill on court three.
On the deciding court, Simona Parajova and Sofiko Kadzhaya fell to KU’s sophomore Maria Jose Cardona and junior Maria Belen Ludueña at No. 2 doubles in a tiebreaker, 8-7 (7-2).
Kansas’ doubles win is its first in six matches and just the second time this year the Jayhawks have won the doubles point but lost the match.
The Jayhawks entered the singles matches with the early advantage, but were quickly overcome by the Horned Frogs. Sirilova allowed Los only three games in her 6-1, 6-2, win over the Jayhawk to tie the match, 1-1.
No. 50 Tan defeated Windom on the first court in a tiebreaker in the second set, 6-4, 7-6 (7-2), to put TCU in front, 2-1. No. 119 Parajova pushed TCU’s lead to 3-1 with a win over Cardona, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2.
Kansas came within one point of TCU as Trubica made quick work of Snyder, 6-0, 6-0, to inch closer to TCU, 3-2. The Horned Frogs didn’t waiver, as they claimed the third and fifth court to take the match.
In the last two matches, Kadshaya defeated Ludueña, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2, and Nichols bested Barnhill in a third set, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Next the Jayhawks will travel to Manhattan, Kan., to meet the Wildcats for a Sunflower Showdown on April 19 at noon to close Big 12 regular season play.
“We have a big match against K-State that we have to get ready for,” said Chapman. “We need to finish the regular season off on a good note.”
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